As an official member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service black-footed ferret recovery team, Defenders is helping to reintroduce black-footed ferrets and protect them once reintroduced.

Because of the critical importance of prairie dogs [1] to black-footed ferrets, Defenders is working to restore prairie dogs to new sites and prevent the destruction of prairie dog colonies in existing black-footed ferret areas, such as Conata Basin, South Dakota, one of the most important.

We’re also helping a group ofranchers in Kansas who are fighting to save prairie dogs and their newly reintroduced ferret population from a century-old state law requiring the death of all prairie dogs.

Visit our Species at Risk: Black-footed Ferret [2] page to learn more about what Defenders is doing to protect Black-footed Ferrets.